Is the IPL Producing Enough International Talent? | A BRIDGEi2i Vizards Data Visualization

About a decade ago, India witnessed the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which quickly went on to become a nationwide phenomenon. The league, which was the brainchild of Lalit Modi, was established in 2007 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

In 2008, the cult of the IPL began at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where Kolkata Knight Riders – owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan – and Royal Challengers Bangalore went to battle in front of a frenzied crowd. The packed stadium was enough indication of what was to come in the years following. Given that Cricket is not only India’s favorite pastime but also akin to a religion, the IPL became a rage among lovers of the sport and a massive money-spinner for all its stakeholders. The league was the perfect amalgam of sport and entertainment.

For some perspective on the gargantuan influence of the IPL, here are five mind-bending facts about the league:

IPL has been tweeted about around 84 million times, making it the fastest growing sports league in the world on Twitter (source: Twitter)

The followers of @IPL have risen from 400,000 in 2013 to 4.6 million in 2017, which is a 12X growth (source: Twitter)

In the previous season, 1.02 billion people tuned in to watch an IPL event on TV (source: Broadcast Audience Research Council)

According to industry estimates, the IPL ad revenue totaled a whopping 1,357.4 crores (more than $211 million) in 2016

Aside from being a source of entertainment, IPL also serves as an avenue to talent-scout for the Indian International Cricket squad. The IPL helps in identifying promising uncapped Indian players who would fare well as a part of the International team. But since 2008, when it all began, how successful has the league been in this regard? Is the IPL really working? To answer this question, the BRIDGEi2i Vizards have created an engaging visualization dashboard on Tableau.

The dashboard shows the success rate for every IPL season from 2008 to 2016. For each season, the data visualization highlights:

Players who performed well in the IPL and got selected for the International team

Players who performed well but didn’t get selected for the International team

The visualization also shows various performance figures, including total runs scored, wickets taken, and cap ranking, for each player in a season. Interact with the visualization below for more interesting stats and learn how effective the IPL has been so far in bringing new talent to the International team.